Guerilla Science – Secret Garden Party

Adam Spiers was invited in July to present a demonstration of the Haptic Lotus at Guerrilla Science summer festival event The Secret Garden Party

Thursday:Ascent

17:00-22:00 Blind Robot’s Bluff: Adam Spiers Navigate through darkness with the Haptic Lotus, a cybernetic instrument that manoeuvres through space with engineered grace. Use the unfolding petals to guide you to your destination, and ponder the meaning of light in the dark.

Based on a mock up we had tested at the DHRA conference last September, Adam and his assistants set up a similar situation in a tent at the festival. They attached some cylindrical containers (each containing a sweet) to the corners of a gazebo with magnets. This was the corner where the target ‘beacon’, sound source and some interesting textures were hung up (fake fur, garden twine and corrugated card). Before people went in to the installation blind folded and wearing headphones, they were told that they needed to find these objects and that the Lotus would guide them there.

They were also given the option of racing their friends, which worked quite well. Surprisingly nearly everyone managed to find the container and return to the entrance with it!

Peter Bennett AKA ‘Pencil Beam’, made a short and sharp atmospheric looping sound track that fitted in with the feel of the technology. This activated in the blindfolded persons headphones when they moved near the target tactile area where the container hung.